National HRD Roadmapping Innitiative forwards to Phase Two of Plan Development

The meeting was attended by industry leaders from eight (8) industry working groups such as iron and steel, plastic, petrochemical, aerospace, semi-conductor, ceramic tile, mass housing, and cement industries. Representatives from Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), and various Bureaus of Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), as well as from concerned non-government organizations also graced the event

The industry leaders’ consultation is the second phase of activities enrolled under the DOLE Administrative Order No. 358 dated 18 August 2015. Under this AO, sectoral consultations are conducted per industry and the results are being used for the purpose of crafting sectoral HRD Roadmaps.

The dialogue identified labor imbalances within the industries by 2022, based on initial findings of the ILO Philippine Employment Projection Model (PEMP), validation workshops, among others.

Almost all industries identified the shortage of engineering professionals in their respective fields. In the ceramic and tile industry alone, only three universities are reported to be offering ceramic engineering in the country, and the rate of students graduating from this degree program is low, thus the shortage of said professionals. In petrochemical industry, the hard to fill jobs that were of engineering in nature are Operations Engineer, QA/QC Engineer, Process Engineer, Reliability Engineer, Corrosion Engineer, and Instrumentation Engineer.

The consultation also yielded positive projections for the year 2022. In the Plastic Industry, an additional 9.1 to 10.9 thousand workers is expected to be created between 2013 and 2022. Moreover, 992 domestic jobs were predicted to be created in the iron and steel foundries. In addition, an estimate of 117 supplementary jobs can be generated for every P100 million new investments into the sector. The mass housing, on the other hand, is looking at generating 1.5 million jobs because of the predicted 2.2 million houses to be built by 2022.

The consultation was able to achieve its aim of generating industry-based data on labor and skills supply and demand, and up-to-date employment projections. Upon completion of the consultations, the end goal is to have priority policy and program recommendations in the future. This initiative ensures adequate, evidence-based, accessible and relevant labor market information (LMI).

Quoting the Secretary, “Anything that affects employment should be a concern of Department of Labor and Employment.”